


Noli Me Tangere

by genevievedarcygranger



Series: Kinktober Criminal Minds [1]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Aftercare, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Aaron Hotchner, Bisexual Male Character, Collars, Crying, Dom/sub, Dom/sub Play, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Gift Giving, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Men Crying, No Smut, One Shot, Out of Character, Out of Character Aaron Hotchner, POV Second Person, Past Aaron Hotchner/Haley Hotchner, Romance, Short One Shot, Sub Aaron Hotchner, bisexual reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:01:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26744062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genevievedarcygranger/pseuds/genevievedarcygranger
Summary: Hotch loves being collared for you, and usually struggles when it’s time to slip out of sub-space. You decide to give him a gift to help ease him through the process.
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Reader, Aaron Hotchner/You
Series: Kinktober Criminal Minds [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946794
Comments: 4
Kudos: 80





	Noli Me Tangere

_"_ Noli me tangere, _for Caesar's I am,_

_And wild for to hold, though I seem tame."_

\- "Whoso List to Hunt, I Know where is an Hind" _Sir Thomas Wyatt_

* * *

The morning came, and with it came Hotch's alarm, work, and another day of pretending that you two were not together. In a way, you weren't because you knew that Hotch wasn't ready for that next step in the relationship. Sometimes you caught him reaching for his wedding band before remembering that he wasn't married. He'd stop, stalling the usual briskness he had in his rush to get Jack ready for school and to get himself off to his office, and he'd take the time to trace the conspicuously pale sliver of skin around his finger. Each day he went without it, it gained more color. Soon, no one would be able to tell that he was married before. And you suspected that that scared Hotch more than anything, that he might forget Haley.

You didn't mind Haley. She didn't haunt your bedroom, and what you had with Hotch was decidedly different. He was your sub; you were his dom. You cared for each other. You loved him. You were almost sure that he loved you. But you were patient. You could wait.

But first things first, in your morning routine with Aaron, you had to let him transform into SSA Hotchner.

Reaching across his body where he was definitely awake but also ignoring his piercing alarm, you switched it off. You pressed a kiss to his temple. "Wake up, sweet boy. Time to face the day."

And like most mornings, Aaron rolled over and snuggled his face into your neck, his hands clutching at your waist. "Don't wanna," he mumbled, his voice roughened from sleep and deeper than the Pacific Ocean. This was a side to him very few people saw, and you treasured the privilege.

"Sweet boy," you sighed, bringing your hand up to his face. Your hand paused at his collar, simple and black, not too tight. Aaron loved his collar, so much so that he begged you to sleep in it which meant you did a lot more research into other collars just in case. He hardly ever got to wear it, usually after Jack went to bed when Aaron felt it was safe enough for him to slip into subspace. Each morning he fought the process of taking it off, but once he did, he resigned himself to his role very well. Then he was your brave boy, not your sweet boy again until it was night.

With another kiss to his forehead, you pulled away enough so that you were both eye-level to each other on your pillow. Neither of you shied away from the other's morning breath, too used to that by now. "Sweet boy, I've been… wondering, if you would like a present?"

Aaron frowned his confusion, looking a little too much like SSA Hotchner. "Did…did I forget something?"

"No," you chuckled and used your thumb to smooth away the wrinkle in his brow. "I just wanted to get you something special for being my sweet boy."

He still looked a little nervous with his wide eyes darting back and forth between yours. "If you think I deserve it," he mumbled.

Wrapping your fingers through his hair, you watched him melt beneath your touch. "Aaron," you started to remind him, "You're a good boy. Good boys get presents, treats, and all sorts of goodies and loving." Your hand slid down to cup his cheek; your thumb slotted into his dimple perfectly. "And more than that, you're a good man. Let me do something special for you because I want to, sweet boy. Sometimes you deserve something without ever having to earn it."

His brown eyes were soft underneath his half-lowered lids as he stared at you. He nodded and took a deep shuddering breath. "Okay. What is it?"

You offered him a quick, soothing smile. "First, I have to take off your collar, okay? Sit up for me."

At that, Aaron ducked his head, a little sullen, but ultimately did as you asked. He sat up in the bed, bringing his knees up to his chest as he looked up at the ceiling, the same pose every morning. This was always the hardest part for him, you could tell, because he fought back tears each time you unbuckled his collar and tucked it away into his bedside drawer until later.

Just like always, you praised him with soft, encouraging words as you took it off. "There's my sweet boy, so brave for me. Don't cry, you'll get it back later, I promise." Then once his neck was bare, you'd press a few kisses to the skin, only slightly reddened. "How do you feel, sweet boy? You want me to get some ice or maybe some lotion?" He always shook his head no, but some mornings you'd get some anyway, especially after a particularly rough night. After that, Aaron would give a few practice swallows, blink away the tears, and then take a deep breath before he was out of subspace and back to SSA Hotchner, your boss.

This morning, though, you could tell Aaron was struggling to slip out of subspace, and the tears that he'd normally keep from falling were still there. The stubborn tears clung to his eyelashes like diamonds, and Aaron's cheeks were red hot from embarrassment. He reached a hand up and scrubbed at his eyes, voice small when he said, "I'm sorry, I don't know why… I didn't mean to cry. I want to be good."

"It's okay, sweet boy, you can't help it." Your hand stopped his own, pulling it down so that you could replace his frustrated scrubbing with your gentle dabbing instead. "You're so hard on yourself, my sweet boy. It's okay for you to cry sometimes. This is hard on you."

Aaron just sniffled in response. He sat still the entire time, and you didn't stop thumbing away his tears until he had relaxed again and they stopped falling so quickly.

"Feel better?"

He opened his mouth to answer, and then really thought about the question. "No." His answer was honest, flat. "I'm going to have a headache now."

"I'll give you some Advil before we leave." Your hand returned to his hair again, stroking through his messy bedhead in an attempt to smooth it down. The effect it has on Aaron was instantaneous as he mellowed out, patiently waiting. "Would you like your present now, Aaron?"

His mouth quirked into not-quite-a-pout.

"Sorry–" you corrected yourself, "Would you like your present now, sweet boy?"

Much like a cat would do, Aaron pushed his head into your hand. "Please, may I have my present?"

You smiled. He was always so polite. That was never a point of contention in your rules. "Of course. I think you'll really like it." You twisted around, reaching into the bedside table where you hid the box the night before. Thankfully you managed to beat Aaron home from the BAU, sending him to pick up dinner and Jack while you went to the store for the surprise. You really did think it would help him. When you turned around, Aaron was sitting there as docilly as ever, and your smile stretched impossibly wider as you passed the simple black box into his hands.

"Thank you," he said before he ever even opened it. His eyes dropped to the box, and you watched as he examined it, looking for a label or price tag that wasn't there. The box was rectangularly shaped, thin, and lightweight. In Aaron's hands, it looked very small.

"Go ahead and open it," you urged, eager to see his reaction.

Aaron lifted the lid slowly and set it aside. Using just his index finger, he peeled away the thin, white tissue paper. When he finally saw the gift, he paused, sucking in a deep breath. For a moment, he was just frozen in place, his rapidly blinking eyes the only thing moving as he fought back more tears. "It's so pretty," he gaped.

You could almost hear his thoughts: _Too pretty for me._ Immediately you took the day-collar from the box and held it up for his inspection. It was different from his regular collar which was the standard black with the O-ring for you to hook your finger through or occasionally a leash. The day-collar was a little more subtle, similar to a necklace one might where with a sturdy silver chain and another O-ring in the middle. The biggest difference, though, was that your initials dangled from the O-ring, and it was a little looser than a normal collar that way it could be discretely tucked under his suit and tie with no issue.

"A pretty collar for my pretty, sweet boy," you insisted.

His hand reached out for the collar, his fingertips ghosting over your dangling initials. "Not A. H.?" He asked you.

"No, those are my initials." You beckoned him closer with your free hand, and Aaron leaned forward. As he obediently presented his bare neck for you, you started hooking the necklace in place. "So you know that you're always going to be my sweet boy," you explained and pressed another kiss to his forehead before you pulled away to inspect him. "Very cute."

Aaron's cheeks went red, this time a pleased flush unlike his earlier embarrassment. "Thank you. I want to be your good boy." He touched his new day-collar with reverent fingers, tracing a blunt nail around the O-ring and following it down to your initials. "I'll never take it off," he promised.

This time your smile morphed into a smirk, and you leaned close to his ear to whisper, "That's because you can't take it off, sweet boy. Someone has to do it for you." When you pulled away, you caught the tail-end of Aaron's shiver of delight. "Now, be a good boy and let's get ready for the day. Think you can do that?"

Voice caught in his throat for now, Aaron just nodded and climbed out of bed. While he went through the motions of getting ready, you started to make the bed, watching him from out of the corner of your eye. You watched as Aaron clasped his watch to his wrist, and next he would usually go for his wedding ring. But this time, he didn't. Instead, he reached up for his necklace again, fingering the chain with an upturn at the corners of his mouth. He didn't linger for long, though, time to wake Jack rapidly approaching, and as he left the room fully dressed in his suit, you allowed yourself a moment to sit on the side of the bed, savoring the moment. Maybe Hotch really did love you.


End file.
